1. Field of the Invention
The disclosures herein relate to a touch panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
A touch panel is a widely used device that is provided on the surface of a display device such as a liquid crystal display to detect the position of contact by a fingertip or pen. Among various types of touch panels, the four-wire resistive touch panel has been widely used because of its simple structure which enables low-cost manufacturing.
The four-wire resistive touch panel has the configuration in which two transparent substrates each having a transparent conductive film formed on one surface thereof are disposed such that the transparent conductive films face each other. The transparent substrates have electrical wires formed therebetween along the perimeter thereof. These wires include electrodes for generating a potential gradient in a transparent conductive film in the X direction and electrodes for generating a potential gradient in a transparent conductive film in the Y direction perpendicular to the X direction.
Some touch panels have a decorative layer along the perimeter edges of an operating surface, for example, for the purpose of aesthetic improvement (see Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3157059, for example).
A touch panel having a decorative layer on the operating surface may have a drawback in that a step structure formed by the decorative layer on the operating surface degrades aesthetic appearance. There is also a risk of the decorative layer being removed from the operating surface to expose internal electrical wires to degrade aesthetic appearance.
Accordingly, there may be a need to provide a touch panel that has an even operating surface and improved aesthetic appearance.